Mary E. Gerritsen, Ph.D.: "Masdevallias Gems of the Orchid World"

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1 President: Brian Wraxall Vice- President: Eileen Jackson Secretary: Pam Wood Treasurer: Barbara Tague Board Members: Sharon Duffy Nancy Pak Brad Piini Dave Tomassini Diana Vavrek Past President: Dennis Olivas Membership: Ulrike Ahlborn Greenhouse Tours: Joe Grillo Refreshments: Esther Yee Renee Dowdell Hostesses: Sharon Duffy Jill Chambers Bernice Lindner Raffles and Sales: Dennis Olivas Equipment/Lights: Dave Tomassini Librarian: Phyllis Arthur AOS Rep: Jill Chambers SFOS Show Chairman: Ron Bettancourt Newsletter: Roy Florey Webmaster: Nick Doe Financial statement available upon written request to the Board. DVOS PO Box Concord, Ca Diablo View Orchid Society a 501c3 corp. June 8, :30 Speaker s Dinner, 7:30 Meeting Starts, Presentation ~8:00 Contra Costa Water District, 1331 Concord Ave, Concord Mary E. Gerritsen, Ph.D.: "Masdevallias Gems of the Orchid World" Dr. Mary Gerritsen is the vice-president of the Peninsula Orchid Society (POS). Mary will be talking about Masdevallias, and the story behind her recent book "Masdevallias, Gems of the Orchid World" co-authored with fellow POS member, Ron Parsons. Mary has been actively growing orchids for about 10 years, and likes to grow miniature such as Masdevallias, Restrepias and Pleurothallids. However, her collection also includes lots of Bulbophyllums, Phragmipediums and Oncidiums. When she is not talking to her orchids or writing about them, she is actively involved in the development of new drugs to treat cancer, cardiovascular disease and macular degeneration Mary will be selling her new book at a discount for $35 to members of DVOS and sign it at the meeting. Plants for the raffle table will be provided by John Leathers and Bob Hamilton No host dinner with the speaker: We will meet at 5:30 at Pasta Pomodoro, 45 Cresent Lane, Pleasant Hill (This is in downtown Pleasant Hill.) Everyone is welcome at this dinner. Please notify Eileen Jackson at or jackson.eileen@att.net if you would like to join our speaker for dinner. The next Meeting of the DVOS Board will be held at Barbara Tague s home on June 15 th at 7-30pm. All are welcome. Please call if you are planning to attend.

2 Speakers for DVOS 2006 July 13, Lou Jost New Species of Orchids in Ecuador August 10 th??? September 14 th Eric Christensen October 12 th? Gerardus Staal speaking on pests, disease and other nuisances. Nov. 9 th Refreshments for March Meeting: Refreshments: Diana Vavrek, Ken & Renee Dowdell, Madge Fordyce, Dave Tomassini, Tish Ciaravella, and Brad Piini. Beverages: Ken & Renee Dowdell, Eileen Jackson and Jinnie Tom." If you are unable to attend/bring refreshments, please call Esther Yee and let her know. December Holiday pot luck Awarded Plants for May Meeting 1 st Vanda Pachara Delight Bernice Lindner 2 nd Masdevallia no name Diana Vavrek 3 rd Oncidium no name Ken & Renee Dowdell Lancer Smith: Encyclia bractescens Akiko Ogawa Look What I Bloomed for the First Time: Phrag. Noirmont Sheridan Mathias

3 MAY RECAP Our May speaker was Dennis Olivas speaking on the topic of transplanting orchids. Cattleyas, Phalaenopsis, Cymbidiums and Masdevallias were all addressed in the course of the evening. Dennis started by discussing how to transplant Cymbidiums. These orchids can be transplanted at any time of the year. The only requirement is that they need to be finished blooming. There is no rule that you need to wait until the month of May to transplant Cymbidiums. When you transplant, make sure that there are at least four bulbs per plant after the division. These old bulbs will give the orchid a good start in it s new pot. The old back bulbs can also be used to propagate clones of the original plant. Just put some well drained, presoaked bark in to a plastic bag with the back bulbs. Seal the bag and place it under the bench for about three months. At that time a new shoot will appear out of the bulb. When this shoot is 3 inches long the bulbs can be planted. Cattleyas and Phalaenopsis are usually transplanted between the months of March and August. This is usually the time when there is active root growth. The new roots must be at least 3 inches long. If they are shorter than this, you risk stunting the development of the transplant. When you transplant your cattleyas it is normal for the plant to lose some of the leaves off the back bulbs. You never want to cut these leaves off because this could introduce a virus to the plant. Dennis then talked about various transplant mediums that you can use to plant your orchids. The mediums can be anything from bark to marbles and cut up rubber tires. The bottom line is that almost anything will work. The size of the pot is crucial to transplanting success. The size of the pot should be determined by the size of the root ball on the plant. Try not to cut off any good roots when transplanting. Just wrap the roots into a ball and placed in to the smallest pot possible. As a rule always under pot rather than over pot.. After you put the orchid in the new pot with the pre-soaked medium you need to make sure that the medium is pushed in around the roots to stabilize the plant. Always remember to place a name tag with the date of the transplant in the pot. To add stability to the new plant a stake should be placed by the front bulb and the very back bulb so that the plant will not wobble. Make sure that any flowers that are remaining on the transplant are removed. These blooms, if left on, will take away strength from the new plant. Place one teaspoon of Nutricote fertilizer on the new mix. The Nutricote is a 180 day fertilizer and can be purchased at Home Depot under the name of Dynamite. Osmicote is not the same and Dennis does not recommend this brand. The last topic was on transplanting Masdevallias. These orchids prefer sphagnum moss around their roots. When you transplant these Dennis recommends that the roots be wrapped in moss

4 to form a ball. Make sure that the ball is bigger than the pot so that when you put the plant in the pot you will need to wedge it in. There should be a 1-2 inch gap of air between the sphagnum and the bottom of the pot. This pot can then be placed in a saucer of water and the clay pot will act as an evaporative cooler without the roots sitting in water. Thanks again Dennis for the great information and, as always, it was delivered with enthusiasm. Brad Piini Membership News Let s give a warm welcome to our new member Rodney McHale from Concord. Including some late renewals DVOS has now 90 members. Joyce Mason from Pleasant Hill was a guest at the May meeting. The 2006 roster is available. If you would like to have a copy, see me at the June meeting or send me a message. Diablo view Orchid Society Att: Ulrike Ahlborn 117 Laredo Court San Ramon. CA membership@dvos.org ORCHID MART Tired of watering & then fertilizing?? How about watering & fertilizing at the same time? Now you can!!! It s a Siphon Mixer. Attach it to your hose, dip the end of the siphon tube into your liquid fertilizer at 16X strength & water to your heart s content. Where can you get one? Charley s Greenhouse $15! Dennis has an adaptation that he will share with us at our next meeting. (Got a neat Gizmo or a new trick for growing better orchids? Let me know & I ll announce it at our meeting &/or publish it in the newsletter.-brian)

5 The AOS awards - Pacific Central Additional Judging Center - San Francisco, 5/2/2006 Cymbidium Ruby Pendant 'Yen' (Cym. Last Tango x Cym. Ruby Eyes) HCC 79, Exhibited by Steve Williams Masdevallia lucernula 'Elle Ronis' CCM 81, Exhibited by Ron Parsons Phragmipedium caudatum v. sanderae 'Ronald Ciesinski' AM 82 and CCM 83, Exhibited by Chen-Hao Hsu Porroglossum josei 'Ecuagenera' CBR (prov.), Exhibited by Ron Parsons Tha AOS awards - California Sierra Nevada Judging Center - Sacramento, 5/3/2006 Ascofinetia Cherry Blossom 'Terrie's Delight' (Neo. falcata x Asctm. ampullaceum) HCC 77, Exhibited by Sergei Ivanshin Masdevallia Joy Edstrom 'Lisle B' (Masd. veitchiana x Masd. racemosa) HCC 77, Exhibited by Terry & Margaret Boomer Sl. Orpetii 'Garnet Sea' (Soph. coccinea x L. pumila) HCC 76, Exhibited by Gold Country Orchids Wilsonara Tigalva 'Gigantic' (Odcdm. Tiger Butter x Odm. Memoria Ernesto Alvarez) HCC 75, Exhibited by Richard L. Stone The AOS awards - Paciific Central Judging Center, Oakland, 5/16/2006 Brassia Edvah Loo 'Nishida' (Brs. arcuigera x Brs. gireoudiana) CCM 81 Exhibited by Japheth Ko Cymbidium Rebecca Redden 'Rebecca' (Cym. Tropic Night x Cym. Panama Red) HCC 79 Exhibited by Linsie Hu Epidendrum porphyreum 'So Pink Chico' HCC 76 Exhibited by Francisco Baptista Paphiopedilum bellatulum '(no clonal name yet)' HCC 79 Exhibited by Walter M. Shinn The Pacific Central web page The California Sierra Nevada Judging Center in Sacramento

6 Diablo View Orchid Society Commercial Members Danville Commercial Plant Services David and Alice Tomassini 586 El Capitan Dr. (925) Half Moon Bay D&D Flowers Dennis Olivas 62 Oceanside Dr. (925) (By appointment only) Livermore Fordyce Orchids Frank and Sue Fordyce 1331 Isabel Ave. (925) Pacifica White Oak Orchids, Inc. Sales and Boarding 1204 Linda Mar Blvd. (650) Diablo View Orchid Society Roy Florey, editor